Corn Poppies
 

I always have lots of volunteer corn poppies, Papaver rhoeas (see
http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/jpg/Poppies03.jpg) on my lot. Some are
already up now (they sprout in the fall and bloom in the spring here in
eastern North Carolina). I have often wondered why they are called "corn
poppies." This summer I put old corn stalks in some of the walkways in my
garden, and that is exactly where the first volunteer corn poppies have now
sprouted. I wonder if that is why they call them corn poppies, because old
corn stalks provide a good cover for the poppy seeds until it is time for
them to sprout.

Karl W.